90 NOTES OF TWO DAYS' TRAWLING AND
conveyed it to Maldon—but it died after a day there, of a surfeit of
alcohol. As you will see, the beautiful violet colour has entirely
gone. Aurelia and Cydippe also occurred, and I tried to preserve a
specimen of the latter, C. pomiformis, alive. It is like a globular and
translucent mass of crystal, and is called by Gosse "a gem of the
sea," but it does not preserve well. The rapid and graceful move-
ment of this small creature is produced not by contraction of the
disc as in most jellyfish, but by a series of square plates down the
radial lines which overlap and moving to and fro, as they catch
the light cause an appearance of iridescence.
Amongst the Zoophytes, we recognised most of those which we
had seen here before; species of Sertularia, Hydrallmania, &c, the
fresh record being the very common Halecium halecinum, and a
species of Tubularia (? attenuata), which I have not, as yet, been
able to identify with any published figures. The polype bears two
circles of pale crimson tentacles, and it looks like a miniature
flower.
We also took one mass of Alcyonium digitatum, "Deadman's
fingers," or "Cow paps." In these the translucent polypes containing
eight ciliated tentacles are embedded in the mass; and when fully
extended they exhibit a very delicate appearance.
The parasitic Hydractinia echinata was of course in evidence on
various shells. In one instance the shell of Natica monilifera was
eaten up by the living Hydractinia, and it was also the abode of a
young hermit crab.
This form of zoophyte is common all round the English coast,
and I know extends to Norway. Other species occur in tropical
waters. H. arborescens is a very branch-like form, and occurs not
only in the fjords of Norway, but I have a shell of Siphonalia from
Japan, which is entirely destroyed by it.
Sponges. Species of Halichondria, Grantia, Chalina, and Clione
occurred as before, but none that have not been previously recorded.
On examining the debris in one of my jars, I was glad to find that
it contained three species of Foraminifera, a class of which none
had been observed on the previous occasion; but they are mostly so
small that, unless carefully searched for, they are likely to be overlooked
and thrown away with the dirty washings. One of these is the test
of Peneroplis planatus, a flat discoidal form; another is Miliolina
(seminulum ?), and the third is the Lagena vulgaris, var. striata.
The form of the latter is like a Florence flask, the neck and lip